Once again, Zach McDonald (U. Washington) rode up to the start line of the Men’s Collegiate Championships looking for revenge after missing the top podium spot of the U23. And, once again, he delivered, taking home his second Collegiate Jersey.

The race wasn’t his from the gun, however, as Braden Kappius (UC Boulder) took the hole shot and set the pace for the opening lap. McDonald, looking collected and focused, stayed on Kappius’ wheel. Soon, Eric Thompson (Lees-McRae) joined and the three quickly established a gap.

As the three battled at the front, Kappius’ early effort began to show and he slipped off the wheels of McDonald and Thompson. From then on, it was McDonald’s race, as his smooth technical skills kept Thompson fighting to hold on. McDonald wasn’t shaking him, however, and the race looked to remain tight to the finish before disaster struck Thompson. On the thick, tacky mud of the lower bowl, Thompson attempted to power by McDonald when the effort snapped his derailleur. It would cost Thompson the chance at gold, but he was undeterred – he shouldered the bike and began the long, half-lap run to the pits as he watched McDonald ride away.

“Unfortunately Eric snapped his derailleur,” said Mcdonald, “which is a bummer, no one wants to win that way. I feel really bad for him, he was riding great, sticking on my wheel the whole time. It was really going to be a fun and interesting last couple of laps, but unfortunately he had some really terrible luck. It’s a bummer to see that happen, but, it happens, you know? He didn’t hit a spectator, though [smiles].”

Behind them, Chris Hurst (UC Boulder) was riding his own race, slowly making ground on the leaders. He caught up to Bradford Perley (Lees-McRae), and the two together overtook Kappius. In a great show of strength and tenacity, Thompson clawed his way up to this group after getting his pit bike, but not before Hurst had launched his bid for second and had a clear gap.

“The U23 race yesterday really took it out of my legs,” said Hurst. “But I finally came around after a few laps. Racing with these guys is just awesome. I didn’t really know what to expect. I was tired, it was an early start. I just wanted to go out and have fun and race hard, and that’s what I did. I tried not to kill myself too early because I knew if I burned too many matches I wouldn’t have anything for the end. So I just settled in.“

With plenty of room to enjoy his victory, McDonald relaxed after his final run on the stairs and took time to clap hands with his many fans lining the finishing straight. A charging Hurst came in soon after, followed by Perley, Kappius, and then Thompson.

Though McDonald made it look easy, he was quick to say otherwise. “The course is really tough. You can try to just set a tempo and motor around, and that’s all I was trying to do. It worked out. “

“I started four rows back,” said 3rd place Purley. “I knew this initial section has had some pileups, like the U23 race yesterday, and everyone was expecting a crash on the inside, I think, so they were all riding outside and the inside line was clear. I made up a few spots there. It’s pointless to try to pass on the real rough stuff, there’s only four or five distinct lines you can ride, so I just tried to stay behind people and draft on the pavement and just punch around when I could, I think there were three or four sections of the course where you could really put power down and all the rest of the time just try to ride smooth. I saw my teammate Eric Thompson riding second, I heard on the intercom he was battling with MacDonald so it was awesome to hear that, I was doing my best to get up there and help but I couldn’t quite make it. Hats off to both the CU guys, they were flying and riding real strong. I caught up to them and got off the front a little bit, and then they pulled me right back. They were working together real well, with three to go, two to go we were all together and Chris put in an attack which kinda separated us out and I was able to pull him back and Brady was starting to dangle a little bit. I pulled Hurst in with about half a lap to go, and we were riding right on each other, but I couldn’t quite get around him. It’s tough to get around people, unless you’re on the pavement, and then you’ll just lose the draft. I tried to get around him in the mud here at the bottom of the stairs and slipped up a little bit and lost some time, but he was riding real smooth.”

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